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Living with Menopause & Lifestyle Changes

Our team supported event at 4 local organisations on topics including: Menopause & Lifestyle Changes, Chronic Kidney Disease & Risk Factors, Diabetes & Lifestyle Changes

2 Request for our involvement or support on wider projects.

2 sessions held on Menopause & Lifestyle Changes

2 sessions held on Chronic Kidney -Disease & Risk Factors

2 sessions held on Diabetes & Lifestyle Changes

Groups Workshop attended by people from different ethnic background

7 first time attendees at activity group

1 Partnership meetings attended/led

1 Local Organisations events attended

What is Menopause?

Menopause is the time that marks the end of your menstrual cycles. It is when your period stops due to hormone levels. It usually affects women between the ages of 45 and 55, but it can happen earlier. It affects anyone who has periods.

What is Perimenopause?

Perimenopause is when you have symptoms of menopause but your periods have not stopped. Perimenopause ends and you reach menopause when you have not had a period for 12 months.

How is It Diagnosed?

It’s diagnosed after you’ve gone 12 months without a menstrual period. Signs and symptoms of menopause are usually enough to tell most women that they’ve started the menopausal transition. If you have concerns about irregular periods or hot flashes, talk with your doctor. In some cases, further evaluation may be recommended.

What Causes Menopause?

  1. Naturally declining reproductive hormones. As you approach your late 30s, your ovaries start making less oestrogen and progesterone — the hormones that regulate menstruation — and your fertility declines. In your 40s, your menstrual periods may become longer or shorter, heavier or lighter, and more or less frequent, until eventually — on average, by age 51 — your ovaries stop releasing eggs, and you have no more periods.
  1. Surgery that removes the ovaries (oophorectomy). Your ovaries produce hormones, including oestrogen and progesterone, that regulate the menstrual cycle. Surgery to remove your ovaries causes immediate menopause. Your periods stop, and you’re likely to have hot flashes and experience other menopausal signs and symptoms. Signs and symptoms can be severe, as hormonal changes occur abruptly rather than gradually over several years.
  1. Surgery that removes your uterus but not your ovaries (hysterectomy) usually doesn’t cause immediate menopause. Although you no longer have periods, your ovaries still release eggs and produce oestrogen and progesterone.
  1. Chemotherapy and Radiation therapy. These cancer therapies can induce menopause, causing symptoms such as hot flashes during or shortly after the course of treatment. The halt to menstruation (and fertility) is not always permanent following chemotherapy, so birth control measures may still be desired. Radiation therapy only affects ovarian function if radiation is directed at the ovaries. Radiation therapy to other parts of the body, such as breast tissue or the head and neck, won’t affect menopause.
  1. Primary ovarian insufficiency. About 1% of women experience menopause before age 40 (premature menopause). Premature menopause may result from the failure of your ovaries to produce normal levels of reproductive hormones (primary ovarian insufficiency), which can stem from genetic factors or autoimmune disease. But often no cause of premature menopause can be found. For these women, hormone therapy is typically recommended at least until the natural age of menopause in order to protect the brain, heart and bones.

 

What are the Symptoms of Menopause?

Menopause and perimenopause can cause symptoms like anxiety, mood swings, brain fog, hot flushes and irregular periods. These symptoms can start years before your periods stop and carry on afterwards. It can feel different for everyone. You may have a number of symptoms or none. Symptoms usually start months or years before your periods stop. This is called the perimenopause. Menopause and perimenopause symptoms can have a big impact on your life, including relationships and work.

  1. Changes to Period: The first sign of the perimenopause is usually, but not always, a change in the normal pattern of your periods, for example they become irregular. Skipping periods during perimenopause is common and expected. Often, menstrual periods will skip a month and return, or skip several months and then start monthly cycles again for a few months. Periods also tend to happen on shorter cycles, so they are closer together. Despite irregular periods, pregnancy is possible. If you’ve skipped a period but aren’t sure you’ve started the menopausal transition, consider a pregnancy test. Eventually you’ll stop having periods altogether.
  2. Changes to Mental Health: Common mental health symptoms of menopause and perimenopause include: changes to your mood, like low mood, anxiety, mood swings and low self-esteem and problems with memory or concentration (brain fog)
  3. Physical Changes: Common physical symptoms include:
  4. Hot flushes, when you have sudden feelings of hot or cold in your face, neck and chest which can make you dizzy.
  5. Night Sweats
  • Loss of Breast Fullness
  1. Difficulty sleeping, which may be a result of night sweats and make you feel tired and irritable during the day
  2. Palpitations, when your heartbeats suddenly become more noticeable
  3. Headaches and migraines that are worse than usual
  • Muscle aches and joint pains
  • Changed body shape and weight gain
  1. Skin changes including thinning hair, dry and itchy skin
  2. Reduced sex drive
  3. Vaginal dryness and pain, itching or discomfort during sex
  • Recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs)
  • Sensitive teeth, painful gums or other mouth problems

What Are the Complications of Menopause?

 

After menopause, your risk of certain medical conditions increases. Examples include:

Heart and blood vessel (cardiovascular) disease:  When your oestrogen levels decline, your risk of cardiovascular disease increases. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women as well as in men. So it’s important to get regular exercise, eat a healthy diet and maintain a normal weight.

Osteoporosis: This condition causes bones to become brittle and weak, leading to an increased risk of fractures. During the first few years after menopause, you may lose bone density at a rapid rate, increasing your risk of osteoporosis. Postmenopausal women with osteoporosis are especially susceptible to fractures of their spine, hips and wrists.

Urinary incontinence: As the tissues of your vagina and urethra lose elasticity, you may experience frequent, sudden, strong urges to urinate, followed by an involuntary loss of urine (urge incontinence), or the loss of urine with coughing, laughing or lifting (stress incontinence). You may have urinary tract infections more often.

Sexual function: Vaginal dryness from decreased moisture production and loss of elasticity can cause discomfort and slight bleeding during sexual intercourse. Also, decreased sensation may reduce your desire for sexual activity (libido).

Weight gain: Many women gain weight during the menopausal transition and after menopause because metabolism slows. You may need to eat less and exercise more, just to maintain your current weight.

 

What is the Treatment for Menopause?

Menopause treatments focus on relieving your signs and symptoms and preventing or managing chronic conditions that may occur with aging.

There are things you can do to help with symptoms. There are also medicines that can replace the missing hormones and help relieve your symptoms.

Lifestyle and Home remedies

Fortunately, many of the signs and symptoms associated with menopause are temporary. Take these steps to help reduce or prevent their effects:

Cool hot flashes: Dress in layers, have a cold glass of water or go somewhere cooler. Try to pinpoint what triggers your hot flashes. For many women, triggers may include hot beverages, caffeine, spicy foods, alcohol, stress, hot weather and even a warm room.

Decrease vaginal discomfort. Try vaginal lubricants or moisturisers from pharmacy. Staying sexually active also helps with vaginal discomfort by increasing blood flow to the vagina. If using condom use water-based lubricants and doctors can prescribe other vaginal treatment (gels, creams, pessaries)

Get enough sleep: Avoid caffeine, which can make it hard to get to sleep, and avoid drinking too much alcohol, which can interrupt sleep. Exercise during the day, although not right before bedtime. If hot flashes disturb your sleep, you may need to find a way to manage them before you can get adequate rest.

Practice relaxation techniques: Techniques such as deep breathing, paced breathing, guided imagery, massage and progressive muscle relaxation may help with menopausal symptoms. You can find a number of books and online offerings that show different relaxation exercises.

Strengthen your pelvic floor:  Pelvic floor muscle exercises, called Kegel exercises, can improve some forms of urinary incontinence. Strengthening pelvic floor muscles with Kegel exercises and using a topical vaginal oestrogen may help relieve symptoms of incontinence. Hormone therapy may also be an effective treatment option for menopausal urinary tract and vaginal changes that can result in urinary incontinence.

Eat a balanced diet:  Include a variety of fruits, vegetables, milk, yoghurt and whole grains. Limit saturated fats, oils and sugars. Ask your doctor if you need calcium or vitamin D supplements to help meet daily requirements. Get some sunlight on your skin for vitamin D.

Don’t smoke: Smoking increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, cancer and a range of other health problems. It may also increase hot flashes and bring on earlier menopause.

Exercise regularly:  Get regular physical activity like walking, running, dancing or exercise on most days to help protect against heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, weight gain and other conditions associated with aging.

Talking Therapy: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can help with a low mood and feelings of anxiety. It can also help with sleep problems.

 

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